BigPontiac

The 1SS with a manual trans and the options you quoted prices out at $20,125 using my zip for the Chevy...same as I used to price the Mazda. (I added the side airbags to make it comparable to the Mazda, not sure you included them in your "build".) The Mazda's price also includes the $560 destination charge...I couldn't tell if the Chevy did or not. So the $1k price difference would buy me the xenon headlights, heated seats, rear disc brakes, independent rear suspension, electroluminescent gauges, automatic climate control, telescoping steering wheel, trip computer and tire pressure monitoring system. I'd still go for the Mazda. I'd also guess the Cobalt is wearing H rated tires compared to the the V rated 205/50s on the Mazda... I haven't driven the Cobalt, but the 2.4L with the 5 speed in the HHR I test drove didn't impress me...gearbox and clutch were terrible...not fun to drive. The 2.4 in that application felt pretty slow. The two-tone leather seats and the special stripe on the "Spring Edition" were cool though! NOTE to Chevy.com, I shouldn't have to use IE to access your website.

The MazdaSpeed6 is a pretty sweet ride too... $20K would also buy a CPO 3-4 year old BMW 3-Series with a 100K warranty...which is the route I took instead of buying a Mazda3 2 years ago when I was "shopping" in that price range. Mine was an off lease 323i with 30k on it that had 1 year of the factory warranty remaining before the extension kicked in.

$20K buys you a Mazda3 S Grand Touring 4-door sedan with a manual trans, xenon headlights, heated leather seats, tilt/telescoping steering wheel, 4 wheel disc brakes, 4 wheel independent suspension, ABS, side airbags, electroluminescent gauges, automatic climate control, trip computer, 17" V-rated tires, tire pressure monitoring system, etc etc. 2.3L 160hp, 26/32MPG, 48mo warranty. FUN TO DRIVE. I'd take that in a heartbeat over a Cobalt. All I'd add is the sunroof/bose package bring the cost up to $21K. P.S. -- it also offers a NAV option and 5speed automatic trans...

And the Bangle-ization continues! I wish his influence would end!

No lessons learned from watching the Jaguar X-Type I guess...

If my memory serves me correctly, your favorite slogan "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick" had some kind of big bird landing on top of the word "Buick" in the TV spots. What does an Eagle or Hawk have to do with Buicks?? As for establishing meaningful marketing messages, I'd advise you to pick up the June 2006 copy of Business 2.0 magazine and read the article "Marketing Made Easy" about how Staples implemented their new succesful marketing strategy. It seems to disagree with your approach. Highlights: - it takes 3-5 years to successfully implement a new marketing message - the retail outlets had to be improved BEFORE launching the new marketing for it to be effective - typical marketing executives create new advertising every 18 months - the average tenure of a corporate marketing chief hovers at 22 months Could GM be doing better at this, sure, but if Buick internally has figured out what their message is and imprinted that on the products in the pipeline, the marketing that communicates that message will come with the products as they launch.

Any chance the next gen BLS will be a "CTS jr." on the same platform? A RWD entry level car the size of a 3-Series would be nice...thereby allowing more room at the top end to better differentiate the STS from the CTS.

What about the positives of picking up Daewoo and entering the Chinese market? You love to focus on the negatives and ignore the positives... Every investment portfolio has winners and losers.So, the underlying premise of "the plan" is to hop in the DeLorean and return to your hey-day back in the mid 80s? My parents' owned many of the cars you mention...many were good cars, but not stellar. A quick recap of my family's Buick inventory over the years: -1978 Buick Opel 4dr -1978 Buick Century Custom wagon -1980 Buick Skylark Custom 4dr -1983 Buick LeSabre Custom 4dr -1985 Buick Skyhawk Custom wagon -1988 Buick Electra Limited 4dr -1993 Buick LeSabre Custom 4dr -1998 Buick Park Ave 4dr -2000 Buick Regal GSE 4dr -2004 Buick Ranier CXL From the mid 80s on, the LeSabre and Park Ave have been essentially the same car. Same with Century and Regal since the late 90s. What part of "Buick will not be a full line manufacturer anymore" didn't you understand? Here's a crazy idea, instead of trying to sell Buick's against Chevy, Pontiac, and Cadillac...how 'bout trying to sell them against Toyotas and Lexus??

So, first you complain about GM's market share declining. Now you're complaining that the Buick division hasn't gotten any "niche vehicles" as a halo car? And the halo vehicle restores volume how? Let's review, Pontiac got the GTO and the Solstice. The greedy dealers all marked up the GTOs when they hit the lot, so they sat...GM then had to offer incentives to move the metal. Then, in response to the dealers "having to have" product, we got the G5 and Torrent. So, as GM works to focus their brands, the dealers conspire against GM because they're still concerned with other GM divisions as competition instead of other manufacturers. Buick got the Lucerne and is getting the Enclave. You're getting GM's nicest Lamda in a growth category. Both of which are consistent with Buick's image, vast improvements over the models they replace and volume products. Given GM's current budget constraints, Buick is making out pretty well. From a consumer's perspective, it's the dealers that are part of the problem. Revising dealer franchise laws and encouraging customers to order direct from the manufacturer over the internet would sure go a long way in giving GM the latitude it needs to differentiate its brands more effectively without having to appease the dealers.

I can't speak for the whole East Coast, but in CT and Western MA some dealerships are open on Sundays now. It's not as easy to walk the lot on a Sunday while the dealer is closed as it used to be. I can't buy alcohol, but I can buy a car. As for buying during the holidays, my dad bought his 2006 Inifiniti G35x during Christmas week last year...he had to use up his vacation and took the week to cross shop cars and dump his 2004 Buick Ranier. He took delivery the day of Christmas Eve. As his salesman was doing the "pre-flight" with my dad and programming the bluetooth to recognize his blackberry, I chatted with another salesman who said they were delivering 6 cars to people's houses who had bought them as Christmas gifts for loved ones ON Christmas morning...which included a big red magnetic bow.

I actually like the fact that there is a "no wood" option. And I really like that steering wheel! Also nice to see at least the engineers drive cars with the manual transmission...

Some of these cars pre-date me... Dad - '55 Chevy Bel Air 2dr (blue, manual) - '63 Rambler American 2dr (blue) - '65 Pontiac Catalina 2dr HT (blue) - '68 Pontiac Catalina 2dr HT (blue) [THIS is what led to my Bonneville!] - '72 VW Super Beetle (orange, manual) - '76 Plymouth Volare 2dr (silver, manual) - '78 Buick Opel 4dr (tan) - '80 Buick Skylark 4dr (yellow) - '85 Buick Skyhawk wagon (blue) - '86 Subaru XT Turbo 4WD 2dr (white, manual) - '86 Mazda B2000 LX pickup 2dr (blue, manual) - '90 Acura Integra GS 3dr (red, manual) - '96 Nissan Maxima SE 4dr (beige, manual) - '98 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4wd (white) - '00 Buick Regal GSE 4dr (white) - '01 Infiniti I30 4dr (bronze) - '88 Ford F-150 (blue) - '03 Acura TL 4dr (white) - '99 VW New Beetle Turbo 3dr (yellow, manual) - '02 VW New Beetle Turbo S 3dr (black, manual) - '03 Audi TT Quattro 3dr (blue, manual) - '04 Buick Ranier (silver) - '04 BMW 330ci 2dr (grey, manual, perf package) -current- - '06 Inifiniti G35x 4dr (grey) -current- Mom - '58 English Ford - '58 Dodge Coronet - '63 Chevy II 2dr (blue) - '70 Pontiac Catalina Wagon (green) - '74 Chevy Bel Air Wagon (green, 455!) - '78 Buick Century Wagon (green) - '83 Buick LeSabre 4dr (brown) - '88 Buick Electra Limited 4dr (blue) - '93 Buick LeSabre 4r (grey) - '98 Buick Park Ave (red) - '01 Subaru Legacy L AWD Wagon (green) - '02 BMW 325xi Wagon (grey) - '06 Ford Freestyle SEL AWD (grey) -current- I'll layer in my sister's first car as it's applicable as well: - '77 Chevy Chevette 3dr (orange) ME - '79 Subaru DL 2dr (blue) - '83 Subaru GL 2dr (silver, manual) - '70 Chrysler New Yorker 4dr (green, 440!) - '87 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4x4 3dr (red, manual) - '68 Pontiac Bonneville conv (yellow) -current- - '84 Subaru GL-10 2dr (grey, manual) [airport beater!] - '95 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4x4 5dr (green, manual) - '68 Pontiac Bonneville 2dr HT (white) - '94 GMC Sonoma SLE X-Cab 4x4 (white) - '96 Nissan Maxima SE 4dr (beige, manual) - '99 Mazda Miata 10th Anniversary Edition 2dr (blue, manual) - '01 Nissan Pathfinder SE 4x4 5dr (black, manual) - '00 GMC Sierra SLE X-Cab 4x4 (red) -current- - '00 BMW 323i 4dr (blue, manual) - '05 BMW 330i 4dr (silver, manual, perf package) -current-

Seems like you are asking for a higher ride height. The ride height on the current GMT800s was one of their selling points when they first came out...easier to get in and out of while maintaining the ground clearance. Dodge.com lists the 2006 RAM 1500 Quad Cab/6.25ft bed 4x4 TRX4 model at a ground clearance of 8.0 inches. The ST and SLT 4x4s are listed at 7.4 inches. GMC.com lists the 2006 Sierra 1500 Extended Cab/standard bed 4x4 model at a ground clearance of 8.7 inches front/8.6 inches rear. So the RAM rides higher and is harder to get into and out of, but the Chevy/GMC have more ground clearance.

Where's the availability of a REAL manual transmission (as in clutch pedal required) for the big engine? All the enthusiasts complained about that too? Fix the trans availability and tweak the spooky handling and the magazines will gush over this car.

If you have Verizon as your cell carrier, you can combine your Onstar with it. Lame, yes...but better than nothing right now. More info. Not sure it's offered in all markets. Bluetooth and Homelink should be offered across the board in GM vehicles.

Yup, clear shot of the seatbelt mounted to the B pillar on that grey standard cab model. So, the extended cab likely gets it mounted to the door like the Titan or the extended cab is getting a pillar and front-hinged x-cab door like the Ram. Change is not always a good thing... At least the hood is fully closed on this one!

IL Insider: Pontiac G6 Convertible Sells Out for 2006 Date posted: 06-16-2006 DETROIT — It looks as if Pontiac has another hot convertible on its hands: The 2006 G6 convertible is flying off dealer lots. Pontiac spokesman Jim Hopson told Inside Line that the G6 convertible is selling at an average transaction price of $31,300 as of June. The G6 convertible has a base price of $28,490, including a $650 shipping charge. The G6 convertible is averaging five days on dealer lots. "The '07s are already in production, and there shouldn't be an extended time for people to wait for the G6 convertible," Hopson said. The car is built at the GM plant in Lake Orion, Michigan, on the same lines as the coupe and sedan models of the G6. Hopson said the plan is to build 15,000-20,000 2007 G6 convertibles, but the factory has the flexibility to build as many as 30,000-35,000 a year, or roughly 25 percent of total G6 volume. Article continued Full URL: http://www.edmunds.com/insideline/do/News/articleId=115773

Wow, I didn't realize that ES350 and Camry looked even more alike now...

You still didn't answer Evok's question. If you don't have an answer, a simple "I don't know" will suffice...

Pretty soon we can make an animated driveby with all your pictures! That new head-on shot makes it appear the seatbelts anchored to the seats feature of the GMT800s won't make it to the 900s. Speaking as a current extended cab owner, THAT SUCKS!

Thanks. I am hoping I like it better in person. The Yukon and Lucerne looked much better in person than they did in photographs. If all else fails, there's always JPCustoms to let you buy the GMT900 parts to mix and match like they did with the GMT800s...

Did you see any unmasked Sierras at the same photo shoot?

First reaction is not so thrilled...reminds me a lot of the Nissan Titan. I was also hoping for a power back window like the Tundra Doublecab instead of the slider. Hopefully the GMC will be differentiated in a better looking way!

Just to clarify, you came from Albion, NY...which is 300 miles away from Flint, MI. NYC for comparison is 400 miles away from Albion. There's a whole car buying world out there that is very different on the East and West Coasts than it is in the Michigan microcosm...

I saw CARS this weekend also...really liked it. Lots of details in that movie. Also interesting to see the all the old "stock cars" compared with the NASCAR cars... Favorite quote: Float like a Cadillac, sting like a Bimmer!